20 Oct 2025
In October 2025, Dr Jianwen Zheng, Associate Professor of Strategy and Innovation at the International Business School Suzhou (IBSS), Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, and Qunxian – an enterprise in the metal and mineral sector and a representative of China’s manufacturing upgrade – formally signed a horizontal scientific research project titled "Collaborative Innovation Driven Green Transformation of Traditional Industries: Strategic Choices and Practical Paths of Qunxian". This partnership marks a new phase in university-enterprise collaboration. Through fieldwork, repeated in-depth studies and systematic solutions, the two parties have set out an innovative path and practical model for the green transformation of traditional industries.
This co-operation ran for seven months, during which the two parties conducted in-depth discussions on core issues such as resource recycling, energy conservation and emissions reduction, and green value creation. In March 2025, Dr Zheng's team made an initial visit to Qunxian’s Shanghai headquarters, holding detailed discussions with management and business units, identifying "green development" as the core of theme, and finalised the research objectives and action plan. In August, the team visited Guangxi Guikang New Materials Co., Ltd., a subsidiary of Qunxian, to carry out a three-day field survey. They inspected key facilities such as production lines, waste gas power generation treatment and waste residue treatment stations, conducted multi-level interviews with front-line workers, technical leads and managers, and collected first-hand sustainability data.
The team visited Guangxi Guikang New Materials Co., Ltd. and carried out a three-day field survey.
Under Dr Zheng’s guidance the IBSS student team, working with Qunxian, carried out a research project framed by the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), focusing on practical cases of corporate green development and future strategy. The research was selected for the Academy of International Business ‘2025 Global Poster Competition on Sustainable International Business’, reflecting the initiative and contribution of IBSS academics in advancing green practice through university-enterprise co-operation. A second team composed of Chinese and international students from IBSS, also supervised by Dr Zheng, completed the consulting report "Exploration of Feasible Paths for Circular Economy". Combining the enterprise's current situation and international experience, the report provided a clear action plan for Qunxian's green development from three aspects: efficient resource utilisation, green supply chain optimisation and innovative implementation pathways.
Jiarui Cui, ESG Director at Qunxian
Jiarui Cui, ESG Director at Qunxian, welcomed the results: "Co-operating with Dr. Zheng's team not only helped us clarify the direction of green transformation, but also deepened our understanding of sustainable development. The team's theoretical accumulation, ability to meet the enterprise's needs, and accurate analysis during the field research have benefited us a lot." She said that the group has always pursued the co-ordinated development of economic benefits and environmental protection. The resource recycling, supply chain optimisation, energy conservation and emission reduction solutions provided by this co-operation are both forward-looking and operable, and the group looks forward to continuing cooperation in the future to explore new possibilities for green development.
Dr Zheng commented: "This cooperation with Qunxian is a very meaningful practice. By going deep into the front line of the enterprise, we can truly understand the challenges faced by the enterprise in green transformation and put forward targeted solutions. This repeated deepening process from theory to practice and then from practice back to theory is a key link indispensable for promoting green development." He emphasised that promoting green development is a long-term endeavour that requires continuous innovation, in-depth research and close industry partnership. Only by aligning actual needs and continually refining solutions can we truly achieve the goal of green transformation and create greater value for business and society.
This university-enterprise partnership not only provides systematic support for Qunxian's green transformation, but also explores a new path for the sustainable development of traditional industries. IBSS will continue to deepen its efforts in the field of green development, partnering with more enterprises to turn research into practice, and contribute to long-term sustainability goals.
20 Oct 2025